Harry Potter and the Star
by rowergal
Summary: The Leaky Cauldron has a long and well-known history. Tonight, it gains the distinction of being the place where the first meeting between the AX and the Order of the Phoenix took place.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: The people who own Harry Potter and Trinity Blood are rich and dead, respectively. I am broke and very much alive, last time I checked.

In London, England, there exists a pub. A tiny, grubby pub. Actually, in that particular city there are too many pubs of that description to count, but this one is special. To most people it is invisible. Their eyes slide right over it, from the book shop on one side to the record shop on the other. To the people who can see the pub, those who can't are known as Muggles, and the pub itself is the Leaky Cauldron. It has a long history, built as it was around 1500 by Daisy Dodderidge. But its age is not the most spectacular thing about the Leaky Cauldron. Besides being a pub it is a doorway to Diagon Alley, the hub of England's wizarding society.

Today a well-dressed man of middle age walks through London, his cane clicking on the sidewalk as he turns onto Charing Cross Road. Sharp eyes stop and scan the shop fronts. He withdraws a pair of rectangular spectacles from his breast pocket and puts them on. This time when he scans the road his face lights up and he immediately begins walking again.

Now, if one was watching this man closely he might seem to disappear somewhere between a book shop and a record store. Luckily, no one was looking. Inside the Leaky Cauldron the man looks around at the crowded room. Though dark and shabby, it somehow manages to give off a welcoming air. He approaches the toothless old man at the bar. "Tom?"

"How can I help ya?"

"I've heard you have a private parlor that a man such as myself might rent for meetings and the like?"

" Yes, but it'll cost ya."

"Money is no object," says the man with the spectacles, reaching into his pocket a withdrawing a fat golden coin. He slides it across the bar to Tom, asking him, "Is it alright if my associate pays the rest after our business is concluded?" Tom looks happily stunned at mention of 'the rest' and hurries to hide the coin on his person before nodding and answering, "That'll do. This way." He leads the bespectacled man down a narrow hall into aforementioned parlor. Tom looks on as the man inspects his surroundings. Polished oak furniture, a large fireplace, and no mirrors or pictures to gossip… "This is perfect Tom." The old man gives a rather disturbing grin and nods. He opens his mouth to speak when the amount of noise from the main room increases dramatically. It doesn't sound like a brawl, instead it seems that someone well known and liked has entered.

Tom turns, ready to hurry back to his clientele, but is stopped in his tracks when he sees the man approaching. "Dumbledore!" he exclaims, face practically splitting in two his smile is so large. "What brings you to my small pub this evening?'

"Tom you are too humble. You run a fine establishment. As for my being here, well, I have a meeting, and it seems I am running the tiniest bit late." The tall, elderly man in colorful robes looks past Tom to the man standing in the middle of the parlor. Eyes behind half moon spectacles meet eyes behind rectangular ones and both men smile. Tom glances between the unknown client and the well known one. "Well, I'll leave ya to your business then."

The man identified as Dumbledore steps into the parlor and closes the door. "As you may have guessed, I am Professor Albus Dumbledore. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"I am William Walter Wordsworth. Father Wordsworth, if you will. Now to business. Professor Dumbledore, why have you contacted the AX?'

AN: I was reading 2stupid's Harry Potter and Trinity Blood crossover when this hit me. Don't expect regular updates – I have enough on my plate as it is. That said, the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to continue writing.


	2. Chapter 1 The Mission

**Disclaimer**: The people who own Harry Potter and Trinity Blood are rich and dead, respectively. I am broke and very much alive, last time I checked.

**Chapter 1 **

**The Mission**

A sister in Rome is quite a common sight. A sister who, upon hearing the chiming of the city's many bells, screams "I'm late!" and begins running at breakneck speed- well, that might get a few laughs. Or pitying glances, if the onlookers knew just what the sister was late for.

Esther Blanchett is this particular sister's name. She's a petite redheaded girl of eighteen, with large blue eyes. Between her size and her eyes, which give her an aura of youth and innocence, she is often mistaken for someone much younger. But don't be fooled. Those eyes have seen quite a bit, and not all or even most of it is pleasant.

Esther is quite fast, the result of five months harsh physical training. Her skirts billow out around her as she runs, and she smoothes them down quickly before someone sees the sawed off shotgun strapped to her thigh. Despite the distance she's run, her breath still comes easily as she enters Palazzio Spada.

Palazzio Spada is a conspicuously beautiful castle, standing on the opposite bank of the Tiber River from San Pietro. It's decorated with statues of ancient heroes and goddesses, making it reminiscent of an ancient pagan temple. Esther approaches the building and ducks into a side door marked 'Do Not Enter'. Disguised to look like stone is a small metal panel. She opens it, revealing a key pad and a slot. Esther punches in a code and swipes her ID card, and hears the click of a lock being unlocked. She opens the door and enters and there's another click as it locks behind her.

Now, had Esther entered through the front door she would have found herself inside a well-kept but deserted building. As she entered through a side door, she entered a hive of activity. People walked this way and that, arms empty or full of papers, in groups or alone. One thing they all had in common was that they were dressed in the uniform of the clergy. Esther smiled as she walked the brightly lit halls, waving and greeting the people she passed. She is an orphan whose surrogate mother was killed nearly a year ago, and the people of the Vatican's Department of Foreign Affairs had become her family.

Except the Vatican doesn't have a Department of Foreign Affairs. At least, on the surface it doesn't. Just like the Inquisition was supposedly dissolved centuries ago. There are many layers to the Vatican, and the public is only exposed to the first. There is even another Pope, called the True Pope, and another college of cardinals. It is one of those cardinals that Esther is going to see.

Cardinal Caterina Sforza is a Milanese woman of royal descent on her mother's side and the daughter of the previous True Pope. You see, it is only in the public layer of the Roman Catholic Church that clergy are required to take vows of celibacy. It is much easier to recruit people to a secret organization if their parents are also part of it. But back to Her Grace. Both of Caterina's parents died when she was still young, her father suffering from cancer and her mother victim of a vampire attack. She rose through the ranks of the inner Vatican through her own political genius to become the first female cardinal, despite the obstacles placed in her path by her elder half-brother, another cardinal. The only thing the half-siblings have ever agreed on is the election of Caterina's younger brother to the True Papal throne.

Today, the 'Woman of Steel' as Caterina is sometimes called, sits behind her large, imposing desk waiting for the sister three years her junior. There are two chairs opposite the desk, and one of them is occupied by the man who just recently visited the Leaky Cauldron as a representative of the AX. The AX, or _Arcanum Cella Ex Dono Dei, _is the Vatican Department of Foreign Affairs Special Operations Section. Members of the AX, known as deputy enforcers, are responsible for keeping the peace in Catholic countries, in situations too dangerous for the average Foreign Affairs Officer. This means they deal with vampires, magic users, werewolves, particularly dangerous humans, and all other manner of creatures. Though he appears to be a mostly average man, Father Wordsworth, codename Professor, is a dangerous individual, and not just because of his razor-sharp intellect.

Esther finally reaches the hall leading to Cardinal Sforza's office. The secretary, a sister by the name of Loretta, ushers her in. "Sister Esther Blanchett. So you finally deign to join us."

"My deepest apologies, Your Grace," Esther replies with a curtsy. She wilts under Caterina's ice-blue stare. "Very well Sister. In the future, please try to be more prompt. You may be seated."

"Yes, Your Grace. Your Grace, may I ask why I have been summoned?"

"You may, Sister Blanchett, but first I would like to ask you a few questions. Why did you join the Department of Foreign Affairs?"

Esther takes time to consider her answer before speaking. "I suppose you could say I joined because of Father Nightroad, Your Grace. After the Gyula bombed the church, there was no place for me to go. But I truly admired Father Nightroad and the work he did, so I came to Rome, intending to work towards becoming an AX member. I hoped to find the answers here."

Caterina almosts asks Esther what answers she hoped to find, but stops herself. Instead she says, "Sister Blanchett, I have read over your application for the AX. After your success in the Empire, I seriously considered it. But you lack one thing. Experience. If you wish to change that, there is a mission Father Wordsworth thinks you would be well-suited for, and I happen to agree."

For a moment, Esther is too shocked to speak. Then an expression of absolute determination and happiness comes over her face. "I'll take it!" she announces.

"Easy there, Esther. You haven't even heard the mission details yet," says Father Wordsworth with a chuckle. The girl blushes. Caterina doesn't smile, but her eyes grow warmer. "Sister Esther, what do you know of the magical community?"

"The 'magical' community is a hidden society full of people who were born with the dormant section of their brain awakened, and are thus able to use the brain's latent power. Though they believe they are using a force known as magic, we recognize it as a science. Hence, we don't prosecute 'magical' peoples anymore," Esther recites.

"Correct. Now, what about the magical community of England and its recent history?"

Esther wracks her brain for an answer. Because England is largely Protestant, she hadn't studied it closely. "A dark lord going by the name of Voldemort was vanquished in 1981 by a child named Harry Potter, afterwards known as the Boy-Who-Lived. Voldemort was a supporter of the 'pureblood' supremacy faction. With his death, the purebloods took a blow, but they still control the majority of the legislative body, the Wizengamot, and one of the Minister of Magic's closest advisors is a suspected Death Eater, as the followers of Voldemort were known."

Father Wordsworth spoke up. "Correct, though 'vanquished' and 'death' are not words I would have used. Recently I met with the head of the Wizengamot, a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore. He confirmed rumors we've been hearing about Voldemort's return, and asked for our help."

"In hopes of improving relations between the Vatican and magical world, as well as England, we have agreed." Caterina finishes. "Your job, should you choose to accept this mission, would be to act as a bodyguard for Harry Potter."

"I will gladly accept this mission…but why me?"

It is Caterina who answers Esther's query. "Three reasons: your record, your age, and your looks. Your record is exemplary, so we trust that you will do your duty well. You are only eighteen and look younger, so we can disguise you as a student at Hogwarts, the school which Potter attends. Also, you are a redhead, the same as Potter's mother and his surrogate family. You will be a lost relative of one or the other."

Esther nods, she understands their reasoning even if she doesn't like being chosen for her looks…but there is one thing she doesn't understand. "How will I attend a school of magic? I'm normal."

The Professor's eyes light up. "Well you see, just recently I have stumbled upon the most wonderful invention- a special gas that releases the limiters on a person's brain, allowing them to become 'magical' for months at a time. There are a few unpleasant side effects, but I'm sure I'll have that straightened out in no time!" He beams.

Esther's eyes filll with determination once more, and she reiterates, "I'll do it!"

**AN**: Thank you for reading my story. I live for reviews, you know. I also know that my explanation for magic was short and possibly confusing, but I'm trying. And how would you like it if I mixed in some Fullmetal-style alchemy? Thanks for your input!

Edited October 14, 2009. Shadowmaiden3, is is better now?


	3. Chapter 2 Arrival

**Disclaimer**: The people who own Harry Potter and Trinity Blood are rich and dead, respectively. I am broke and very much alive, last time I checked.

**Chapter 2**

**Arrival**

Esther groaned as another passerby gave her sympathetic glance while staying well away. What the professor called 'a few unpleasant side effects' turned out to be a high fever and a nosebleed that didn't stop. Both had started while she was already on the flight, so she didn't have any medicine or tissues, or time in Rome to recuperate. Esther felt awful enough to know she didn't look pleasant, but the way people glanced at her flushed face and the blood spatters on her civilian clothes was a bit insulting.

Then again, it was probably best that they stayed away. If they came to close, someone might notice something odd about the book she was reading, specifically the moving pictures. It was O.W.L. Revision: Charms Edition, as she had been informed that since her target was in the fifth year of his schooling she would be in the same, despite the age difference. She'd begun the text on the flight, after finishing a comprehensive history of the Weasley and Evans families.

So far, it seemed that her best bet would be to masquerade as a member of the Evans family, as it meant she would meet her target person earlier. Also, the Weasleys all had orange red hair, and since Esther had been chosen in part because of her looks, she thought it best to consider them. Her hair was much closer in color to the late Mrs. Potter's, whose parents had had blue eyes, as did her sister.

Speaking of whom, Esther really needed to concoct and practice a story for Petunia. She was not an actress and she knew it. She was simply too honest, her face too expressive, not to mention the difficulty she had making up lies out of nowhere. According to the file, Petunia Dursley was a highly suspicious woman who loved to gossip. Any tale Esther managed to tell her would have to be airtight. Esther groaned.

"Problems, Miss Blanchett?" said a voice from behind her. "Eeep!" Esther squeaked in surprise. Standing behind her was a tall man with a long silver beard and hair, and a very crooked nose, upon which was perched a pair of half moon spectacles. Recognizing him from the many pictures she'd seen, Esther jumped up and promptly tripped over her luggage falling flat on her face at his feet. "Mr. Dumbllllee-ouch!"

"Miss Blanchett, I have been called many things, but never a dumbleouch." Blue eyes twinkling, the headmaster of Hogwarts held out his hand to the heavily blushing girl. Wiping tears from her eyes Esther took the proffered hand and stood. Dumbledore smiled down at her, taking in her disheveled appearance and saying, "I am sorry to have surprised you, my dear. I would say I hope your trip was pleasant, but it appears that would be a false hope. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Umm…if I could have a day somewhere where I can practice magic and get myself settled, that'd be great."

"Then off to Hogwarts we go!"

Esther sunk into the huge prefects' bath and sighed in pleasure. The taps seemed to know exactly what temperature she wanted and turn themselves. 'Like magic,' she thought, then giggled. Of course it was magic! She was in one of the most magical places in the whole country!

Honestly, all that blood loss must be making her silly. Now that her fever and nosebleed had gone away she should be working, not relaxing in the bath. Even if it was nearly as large and nice as the Duchess's, which had actual roses, not rose colored bubbles.

After a quicker soak than she would have liked, Esther stepped out of the bath. While she was washing her wrinkled, bloody clothes had been replaced with fresh ones from her suitcase. She dressed quickly and made her way down to the Great Hall, glad she could recall the way. Dumbledore had given her a quick tour after they arrived via apparation and thestral carriage. Though at one point the size of the castle may have daunted her, it had nothing on the grand structures of Rome or Byzantium.

The Hall, with its magnificent ceiling, was nearly empty, Dumbledore being the only other occupant. She walked confidently up to the Great Table, which was set for two, and took her seat on the headmaster's right. He turned in his golden, throne-like chair and said to her, "Good evening, Miss Blanchett. I hope you found your way here without trouble?"

"I did, thank you."

"Good. In that case, let us tuck in." He clapped once and a sumptuous meal appeared before them. Esther barely held back another squeak of surprise. "How did you do that, sir?"

"I didn't, actually. The service is the house elves' magic. Quite dramatic, having it on my gesture, of course, but the clap is only a signal, not magic itself. And please, call me Albus. You're a representative of the Vatican and a legal adult, not a student. Yet."

"Ahhh…thank you, Albus. Please call me Esther."

"Very well, Esther." From there conversation ran from what exactly house elves were to the political state of Britain's magical community. Esther learned quite a bit about the world she was entering. "So, Albus," she asked, "Where are the rest of the teachers and staff? Surely they must come here at some point over the summer to prepare for the coming year?"

"Usually they do. However, I told them that because of my recent dismissal from the Wizengamot I would have the time to reopen the castle myself, so that I might receive you here. Unfortunately, they will begin arriving soon so I cannot host you for long. Even if I could, the groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, lives here year long. He is currently away, but I have no idea when he might return. To that end, have you decided how you will enter the wizarding world?"

"Yes, I have." Esther took a deep breath and began to outline for Albus the plan she'd thought of in the bath. "That sounds marvelous, my dear girl!" he said when she was done. "Do you think you will be able to pull it off? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, with practice I should be able to pull it off." Esther wasn't a good actress, but if she practiced a plausible lie long enough she could say it with a straight face. That's how she was able to explain her reason for leaving the church with Dietrich so often to Mother Laura. It helped that this lie had some truth in it. "As for helping me…tomorrow I will need to go to Diagon Alley to purchase the necessary items. Will you allow me to use your floo? And possibly give me a map?"

"I can do better than that, my dear. I can escort you myself."

"Umm…no offense, but I think it would be better if I went alone. I need to be seen as a complete newcomer to this world, and that won't be so if I'm escorted by such a prominent figure."

"You flatter me, Esther. But I see your point. I will have the map ready for you tomorrow, and the floos in the heads of houses offices' and my own are all open to you. They are the only ones that allow travel, aside from the one in the hospital wing, which goes to Saint Mungo's only." Esther smiled. "Thank you Albus. With that settled, do you mind if I retire?"

"Not at all. Will you need help finding the guest rooms?"

"I'll be fine. Good night."

The next day dawned bright and clear, and very hot for Scotland. Esther was not bothered by the temperature, having lived in Rome and traveled around the Middle East. At breakfast she met with Albus again, this time chatting about magical theory. He escorted her to his office, where he gave her the map and a list of things she'd need for the coming school year. Esther took a moment to say goodbye to her new friend, then pinched a bit of sparkling green powder between her fingers and threw it onto the roaring fire. She stepped into the now emerald green flames, shouted "Diagon Alley!", and was gone.

She spun to a stop in what appeared to be a rather seedy pub. A toothless old man grinned at her from behind the bar. 'Tom', she remembered from the Professor's description of the place. Ignoring the other patrons, who seemed content to ignore her in return, Esther walked up to the bar. "Tom?" she nearly shouted to be heard over the din.

"Yes, miss? What can I be gettin' for ya?"

"If you could show me into the Alley, I'd be grateful."

"O' course. Just folla me." Esther and Tom pushed through the crowds, eventually exiting the pub via a back door. They entered a small, walled courtyard with nothing but a trash can and some weeds. Tom told Esther, "It's three up and two across," and turned to leave. "Wait!" Esther called. The man turned back with a curious look on his face. "I don't have a wand…" she murmured, blushing. Tom looked surprised. "Little old for that, aren't ya? No wand, and dressed in muggle clothes…y'ain't a muggle, are ya? Couldn't find this place if ya were, 'less someone told ya…" This last bit was said as an afterthought, almost as if Tom was talking to himself. Hoping to avoid an incident with Obliviators, Esther quickly replied, "No, no! I'm just new here. New to England, I mean."

"Oh? And where was ya before?"

"Italy. Rome, to be exact." A stricken look crossed Tom's face at Esther's words. "Oh, ya poor girl. Ya need any help, ya come here, alright?"

"Yes, and thank you, Tom. Now, could you open the doorway for me?"

"O' course." He tapped the before-mentioned brick three times with his own wand, and a small hole appeared. It grew wider and wider, and a few seconds later Esther was facing an archway large enough for several people to walk through, one that led onto a crowded, cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. Taking a deep breath, Esther stepped forward into a new world.

AN: Originally, this chapter was going to continue on to Esther's meeting with the Dursely household, but I wanted to post, and that last sentence seemed like a good cutoff point. Any questions or comments? Please review!


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